United States Navy Chaplain Corps - Yearbook

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SECTION Hel COMMANDERS' DUTIES OF EX- AMPLE AND CORRECTION All commanding officers and others inau- thority in the naval service are required to show in themselves a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism, and subordination, to be vigilant in inspecting the conduct of all persons who are placed under their command, to guard against and suppress all dissolute and immoral prac- tices, and to correct, according to the laws and regulations of the Navy, all persons who are guilty of them, and to take all necessary and proper measures, under the laws, regulations, and customs of the naval service, to promote and safeguard the morale, the physical well- being, and the general welfare of the officers and enlisted persons under their command, or charge. SECTION 7Qdj DIVINE SERVICE The commanders of vessels and naval activities to which chaplains are attached shall cause divine service to be performed onSunday, whenever the weather and other circumstances allow it to be done, and it is earnestly recom- mended to all officers, seamen, and others in the naval service diligently to attend at every performance of the worship of Almighty God. SECTION 7Qel REVERENT BEHAVIOR All persons in the navy are enjoined to behave themselves in a reverent and becoming manner during divine service. Thus the provisions found in the old Articles for the Government of the Navy, familiarly known as Rocks and Shoals, regarding Conduct and Morals in general and divine services inpartic- ular were preserved in the new regulations with but few changes. These quotations given above, Section 7c to 7e inclusive, are to be found in Ap- pendix Z, page 454 of the Manual for Courts- Martial, United States. 1951. PROTECTION OF MORAL STANDARDS President Truman, in October 1948, appointed nine men and women to The President's Com- mittee on Religion and Welfare in the Armed Forces. This number was later increased to eleven. All were volunteers and all were promi- nent in public affairs and social welfare activities. Mr. Frank L. Weil of New York served as chair- man. The Committee was appointed to encourage and promote the religious, moral and recreational welfare and character guidance of persons in the Armed Forces. One reason for sucha committee was the fact that the Armed Services at the end of 1948 had 630,000 young men under the age of Zl. In other words, at that time, about 505k of all serv- ice personnel were minors, a larger percentage than ever before in the peacetime history of the nation. The Committee sought to stimulate a public awareness of the needs of the peacetime service- man. Such matters as adequate housing for de- pendents of service personnel, programs of recreational activities in communities adjacent .to military establishments, and the work of the chaplains in the various branches of the Armed Services came under the study of the Comrnittee. The Chaplains Division of the Navy furnished de- tailed information regarding the status of the Navy's Chaplain Corps and of the activities of its chaplains. The function of the Committee was wholly in- vestigative and advisory. Under date of 1 October 1950 the Committee issued its report inapamphlet entitled The Military Chaplains, AReport to the President by the President's Committee on Reli- gion andWelfare in the Armed Forces. The Report set forth a number of suggestions for a closer liaison between the chaplains in the Armed Serv- ices and the civilian churches and clergy. The Committee reported: It is to the credit of the three Chief of Chaplains and to the entire chaplaincy in all three services, that there is nothing funda- mentally wrong with the chaplaincy, except for the acute shortage of these exceptionally well-qualified candidates for the chaplaincy who are so vitally needed. And, finally, the Committee stated: It would be unfair to conclude this report without a word about the generally satisfac- tory state of affairs in the military chaplaincy. Our Armed Forces are doing a highly com- mendable job meeting their responsibilities to military personnel and their families. The chaplains are a positive influence for good and they serve to promote the spiritual wel- fare of the armed forces in a manner calcu- lated to promote the best interests of the Nation. The country's citizens should be proud of their chaplaincy in the armed forces and extend to chaplains their fullest support. The Committee concluded its activities on Feb- ruary Z8, 1951. Never before had the chaplaincies of the Armed Services such a powerful advocate to speak in their behalf. For the first time in the history of the nation, an agency of civilians con- cerned with the spiritual and moral welfare of service personnel had made a serious study ofthe situation and had made definite recommendations to the President and to the Secretary of Defense. There is evidently a connection between the work of the President's Committee and the fol- lowing important memorandum sent under date of 26 May 1951, by General George C. Marshall, Secretary of Defense, to the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, to Chiefs of Staff of the Army and Air Force, andto the Chief of Naval Operations: It is in the national interest that personnel serving in the Armed Forces be protected in the realization and development of moral, 262022 1 h-Rf! 7

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supervision of the training of the student chaplains . This he conducted until the Chaplains'School was reopened in March 1951. A total of 21 Student Chaplains were orderedto the Chaplains Division for a period of five months during the time Chaplain Mullins had this special responsibility - nine in 1949 and 12 in l950. All of these chaplains, with the exception ofReserves in 1950, were USN. The Student Chaplains studied such subjects as Naval Orientation, Naval Regula- tions, the Chaplains Manual, the History of the Chaplain Corps and were made cognizant with the various phases of a chaplain's work through a series of two-week field assignments at naval in- stallations in Washington and vicinity, with the Marines at Quantico, the Fleet Marines at Camp Lejeune, and a two-weeks' cruise. With the acceleration of the procurement of new chaplains following the Korean incident, the re- activation of the Chaplains' School became a necessity. Arrangements were made for the es- tablishment of a School as a department of the General Line School at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island. Chaplain D. F. Meehan was detached from his duties as Assistant Direc- tor of the Chaplains Division on 2 February 1951 and ordered to be Officer-in-Charge of the Chap- lains' Indoctrination Unit. C hapla i n s' Orlando Ingvoldstad, Jr., a veteran of Korea, and Richard W. Ricker were also ordered to the School to serve on the faculty. Chaplain John D. Zimmerman relieved Chaplain Meehan in November 1951. The School was opened on 9 March 1951 with a class of 25, all but two of whom were graduated 011 19 April. The reactivated School carried on the traditions of the School that was in existence during World War ll in the training of civilian clergymen to bring God to men and men to God the Navy way. The original faculty of the first Chaplains' School labored under great difficulties without the benefit of previous experience in that specialized field and without the several published aids now available as the Chaplain's Manual, the Navy Chaplain, and the History of the Corps. An 140 paged mimeographed Curriculum for Chaplain Corps Indoctrination, was prepared as aguide for the eight-week training of the Student Chaplains. No effort was made to overlap classes until August 1951 when the first abbreviated course for recallees was given. Following that date two four-week refresher courses were given during the two-month course taken by the newly com- missioned chaplains. Six ofthe two-month courses were given in 1951 and another six in 1952. Four of the one-month refresher courses were given in 1951 and 12 in 1952. NAVY REGULATIONS Navy Regulations of 1920 were replaced by the revision of 1948 which contained the following sections of interest to chaplains: 0711. OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY l. Divine services shall be conducted on Sunday if possible. All assistance and encour- agement shall be given to chaplains in the con- duct of these services, and music shall be made' available, if practicable. A suitable space shall be designated and properly rigged for, the occasion, and quiet shall be maintained through- out the vicinity during divine services. The religious tendencies of individuals shall be recognized and encouraged. Z. Except by reason of necessity or in the interest of the welfare and morale of the command, the performance of work by naval personnel shall not be required on Sunday. 3. Kal When there is no chaplain attached to the command, the commanding officer shall engage the services of any naval or military chaplain who may be availableg or, failingiin this, shall, when practicable, invite a civilian clergyman to conduct religious services. tbl Provision shall be made for send- ing and receiving church parties as appropriate and practicable. 4. Except by reason of necessity, ships of the Navy shall not begin a cruise on Sunday. 5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 4 of this article shall not apply to commands en- gaged in training the naval reserve. 6. Nothing in this article shall be con- strued as prohibiting authorized work by civil- ian employees on Sunday. 7. In time of war or national emergency the provisions of this article shall be complied with, so far as practicable. 0807. THE CHAPLAIN The chaplain, when assigned, shall be de- tailed to duty directly under the executive offi- cer, or as appropriate, the chiefof staff. Under that officer, he shall be responsible for the performance of all duties relating to the reli- gious activities of the command, and of such other appropriate duties as may be prescribed by the commanding officer. The chaplain shall be permitted to conduct public worship accord- ing to the manner and forms of the church of which he is a member. The Articles for the Government of the Navy were repealed on 31 May 1951 according to the Act of 5 May 1950. This Act contains, as part one, the Uniform Code of Military Justice which is now found in the first part of the volume con- taining the Navy Regulations of 1948. The second part of this Act contains sixteen other sections which are not now in Navy Regulations, but which are a part of the Act, including the following:

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spiritual, and religious values consistent with the religious beliefs of the individuals concerned. To this end, itis the duty of com- manding officers in every echelon to develop to the highest possible degree the conditions and influences calculated to promote the health, morals, and spiritual values of the personnel under their command. This traditional responsibility of command is of especial importance at this time when the Congress is preparing to broaden the base of inductions into the armed services. The people of this country have made it plain to both Houses of Congress, that they are determined that adequate effort be made both in military installations and in adjacent com- munities to safeguard the moral welfare of members of the Armed Forces. The Depart- ment of Defense, sharing this determination, directs that increased efforts of commanding officers be directed to insure the accomplish- ment of this objective. General Marsha1l's Memorandum to the Chief of Naval Operations was forwarded through official channels to Chaplain Salisbury, Chief of Navy Chaplains, for proper implementation. This took form as a joint letter signed bythe Chief of Naval Personnel and the Commandant of the Marine Corps to all commanding officers under their jurisdiction. This letter dated Z4 October 1951 appeared in the Navy Department Bulletin of 31 October. The main point of the new directive is to be found in paragraph 3, which reads as follows: The protection and development of moral standards is a direct responsibility of every general and flag officer, commanding officer, and subordinate officer. Noncomznissioned officers and petty officers must be required to share in and assume this responsibility of leadership. It is obvious that vulgarity and the cheapening of moral standards must in- evitably result in the lowering of morale and in the undermining of legitimate authority. Every means must be exercised to strengthen the moral, spiritual, and religious lives of the officers and men of the Naval Establish- ment in order that the service may not fall into disrepute and to assure the country of a responsible and disciplined naval component. To implement this policy, the directive stated 'that Commanding Officers in every echelonwill: a. Insure that all personnel are reachedby group instruction and by personal interview on all matters that promote the realization and development of moral, spiritual, and religious values consistent with the religious beliefs of the individuals concerned. b. Take a personal interest in the off-duty activities of personnel and insure the availa- bility of a well-rounded program of religious, educational, and recreational activities. c. Insure that the type of entertainment presented, the contents of publications sold or circulated, including ship, station, and post newspapers, and the activities of offi- cers' and enlisted men's clubs conform to established moral standards. d. Cooperate with agencies, civilian and military, which may contribute to the moral and social well-being of personnel. Subsection a of the above provided an addi- tional basis for the character guidance program which the chaplains were already carrying on. Subsection c ' dealt directly with a problem which has long been a concern of the Chaplain Corps. This directive will continue to be of tre- mendous help to chaplains since they know that the official stand of the highest authorityis solidly behind their efforts to promote and protect the moral standards of naval personnel. Sections five and six of the same directive ern- phasize the responsibility of the commanding officer and places special emphasis upon the work of the chaplain. These sections read as follows: It is emphasized that the protection of moral standards is and must remain the responsi- bility of the commanding officer. Certain sub- ordinate officers, by virtue of their specific functions and professional training, are par- ticularly well qualified as advisors to the command and can be expected to contribute materially to the establishing and conduction of an adequate program. Among these officers are the chaplain, the specialservices or wel- fare and recreation officer, the medical offi- cer, the training or information and education officer, the personnel officer, the legal offi- cer, the public information officer, and the provost marshal. as a specialist in the field of religious guidance and as an advisor to the command- ing officer on moral matters, the chaplain is one of the key officers in promoting the moral, spiritual, and religious welfare of personnel. District, fleet, and force chaplains are available to assist commands to which chaplains are not assigned and to advise, counsel, and offer suggestions to unit chap- lains concerning their work. This directive spells out the position of the chaplain and the importance of his work more precisely than has ever been done before. Older and more general regulations about maintaining moral standards are herein sharpened and given implementation. CHARAC TER GUIDANCE PROGRAM Character Guidance has been promoted by chaplains in the United States Navy as long as there have been Navy Chaplains. Through the years, however, it has been an individual project